World of Rugby League | Queensland | Queensland Grandstand
 
2001 Queensland Cup - Grand Final: September 15

Toowoomba Clydesdales
v
Redcliffe Dolphins

Toowoomba started the match in the worst possible fashion with Paul Carige knocking on in the first set of tackles. This gave Redcliffe the perfect opportunity to put the first points on the board and took that with open arms. Adam Mogg was brought down just before the line and Jason Webber dashed out from dummy half to cross over in the corner. Referee Rob Alexander went to the video to check on the grounding of the ball but the try was eventually awarded.

The Dolphins continue to dominate possession in the opening minutes. Toowoomba centre Steve Irwin went to put in a kick but simply dropped the ball, turning over possession in his side’s half. Redcliffe worked their way up the field and forced the Clydesdales into a line drop out. At the end of the next set of six, Adam Mogg put in a nice grubber kick and Craig O’Dwyer beat Jason Webber to the ball for the try. There wasn’t a single Clydesdale in sight. Michael Roberts converted the try and the Dolphins were out to a 10-0 lead just after 10 minutes of play.

The Clydesdales continued put pressure onto themselves when Ken McGuinness threw an unnecessary pass giving Redcliffe even more possession. The Dolphins forced them into yet another line drop out but luckily for Toowoomba, they were able to prevent another try being scored.

Immediately upon going on attack, Toowoomba were able to strike back via the quick thinking of talented young hooker Michael Ryan. Two consecutive penalties put the Clydesdales deep into the Dolphins’ half. Ryan, seeing the defence slow getting back into line after the second penalty had been blown, darted down the blindside and scored the try.

The momentum started to shift and all of a sudden it was Toowoomba that was piling on the most of the pressure. It was only some desperate Dolphin defence that prevented McGuinness from scoring by holding the fullback up over the line. However, their luck deserted them when Redcliffe winger Rick Hewinson spilled a high bomb from Casey McGuire. Tony Duggan then pounced on the loose ball and a good conversion from Damien Quinn drew the scores level 10-all.

Toowoomba took the lead in the 35^th minute with a try to Kirk Reynoldson. Following a great run by Michael Ryan (who then put in a small kick for Nathan Friend to regather), Ken McGuinness put Reynoldson into a gap and nobody was going to stop the prop from scoring. Having conceded two early tries, the Clydesdales had fought their way back and were starting to take control of the match.

However, the Dolphins managed to stage together an excellent try right on the stroke of fulltime. It all started from a fortuitous chip from Barry Denduck, which he managed to regather the ball. The Dolphins attacked the right side of the defence and Andrew Wynyard was just dragged down before the line. They then decided to move the ball quickly to the other side of the field and, after a magnificent cutout pass from Tony Gould to Phil Graham, George Wilson went in unmarked in the corner. A fantastic sideline conversion from Michael Roberts (much to the delight of the patrons in the Can-Bar area) drew the scores back up at 16-all. It had been an exciting first half of football and absolutely nothing separated the two sides going into the sheds at halftime.

Toowoomba started the second half exactly the same way they did in the first and a couple handling errors (both from high kicks) would eventually cost them a try. Andrew Wynyard ran onto a pass from Tony Gould and the big forward charged right through the defence to put Redcliffe back in front again. The successful conversion put the score line 22-16 in the Dolphins’ favour.

The lead should been extended to 8 points had Roberts not missed a simple penalty goal attempt right in front of the posts. Considering he managed kick one from the sideline, this should have been a simply kick but Michael’s attempt sailed wide. Unfortunately, it would come back to haunt Redcliffe in the end.

Getting back on track after a slow start to the half, the Clydesdales managed to draw the scores level again with a converted try to Damien Quinn in the 65^th minute. In Redcliffe’s territory, Ken McGuinness darted across the field and fired a long pass to Quinn and the winger crossed over in the corner. Damien then kicked a magnificent sideline conversion to make it 22-all.

Luke Scott put the Dolphins back in front after charging right through the Clydesdales’ defensive line and crossing over the line in the 71^st minute. Scott ran onto another good pass from Tony Gould and crashed over the top of the defence to the score the try. Roberts, again, missed a pretty much kick-able conversion.

But this great game of football would have one further twist in it.

It all started when Toowoomba were able to force the Dolphins into a line drop out via a great kick into the ingoal by Michael Ryan. Redcliffe kicked off and the Clydesdales worked their way up the field. All of a sudden, Tony Duggan darted up and turned a ball back inside to Casey McGuire and the 5/8^th went over beside the posts. Referee Alexander decided to check with video referee Eddie Ward and it was ruled to be a fair try. All that needed to be done was for Damien Quinn to kick a simple conversion, which he did, and Toowoomba were the Bundy Gold Cup premiers for 2001.

It was a fitting way to end the season and arguably must have been one of the best grand finals in recent years. The game had just everything: great tries being scored, bone crunching tackles, desperate and scrambling defence and a couple of great try saving tackles. There was absolutely nothing between the two sides but there had to be one loser and that was Redcliffe.

For Toowoomba, it was bitter revenge on the events of last season. They were the best side in the preliminary rounds and, despite incurring the Broncos’ horrific injury run and stumbling first up in the semi-finals, managed to get into the Grand Final and came up triumphs. Ken McGuinness was given man-of-the-match by the ABC commentary team and, although he did have a great game for his side, I would have awarded it to Michael Ryan. Ryan was a constant thorn for Redcliffe all day and his darts from dummy half always gained good metres. Many good judges rate him as Queensland’s future hooker and, going on the performance in this game, he certainly has a good future ahead. Props Kirk Reynoldson and Damon Keating were the pick of the forwards and both worked extremely hard in both attack and defence. Winger Damien Quinn virtually won the game for his side with his superb goal kicking and twice plotted conversions from the sideline.

On the other side of the fence, it was extreme disappointment for Redcliffe. They would love to have won in front of their home crowd but it was not to be on the day. Starting forwards Troy Lindsay, Russell Lahiff, Luke Scott and Danny Burke led the charge for the Dolphins. Tony Gould, who hasn’t had the best of seasons, was outstanding and threw a few great passes and put in a couple of good kicks that ultimately led to tries being scored. Adam Mogg looked dangerous as usual when he was on the field and took a couple of high kicks nicely. When he came on later in the game, Barry Denduck also posed a few questions to Toowoomba. Unfortunately for Michael Roberts, he didn’t quite have the best of games and his goal kicking went sadly astray in the second half.

Congratulations must be given to Redcliffe Chief Executive Steve Bleakley, officials at the club and the canteen staff at Dolphin Oval for putting on a fantastic day and handling it so well. A superb crowd of about 7,000 turned out to watch the match and the atmosphere was simply electric. The QRL must be commended on their decision on choosing a suburban ground as the venue of Grand Final.

That about wraps up the Bundy Gold Cup for 2001. It has been another great success and hopefully the competition can continue on next year. Redcliffe and Toowoomba were the dominant teams again this year and thoroughly deserved to be a part of the Grand Final. It’s now up to the rest to see they can end the stranglehold these two sides currently have on the competition. Stay tuned to this site for any further developments on next year.

All contents, unless noted, are Copyright (c) 1997-2001 to World of Rugby League.
Rleague.com is a joint production of James Stewart, Matthew O'Neill and Steven Birchall.
Email site comments or problems to Rleague Webmasters.